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We engaged in extended discussions with this firm via partner Ben Tompkins. Ultimately they declined to invest, although the conversation ended seemingly on a friendly and positive note.

One or two weeks later, to our considerable surprise, the CEO of a well-known Eden portfolio company, of which Ben Tompkins was a director, contacted and attempted to recruit a key employee whom Ben had met during a due diligence visit to our office. This CEO used a private email address and did not mention his company name, but it did not take much effort to identify him. He said he had heard of this employee via the "industry grapevine."

During Ben's visit he had complimented us on having created the role this employee held, and mentioned that he was encouraging one of his portfolio companies to create a similar role. This employee does not mix at industry events and would not have been known to the other company via the "industry grapevine." Furthermore, the email address at which our employee received the message is one that appears only on their business card which was handed to Ben during his visit, and is not one they use for routine correspondence.

So although there is no absolute smoking gun, the circumstantial evidence seems pretty strong to us. As a result, we would never consider getting involved with Eden on any level, and we question the integrity of the CEO who was willing to act on the information presumably passed to him by Ben.